Life at the Lighthouse
by Paper Daisy Chain
Summary: Life without Jade and Pey'j around. Focused on an OC. Rated just to be safe. Check it out, it'll get interesting if I get good reviews.
1. The DomZ Attack

The cool night air hit Jenika as she walked out into the semi-darkness, the slightly damp grass making her bare feet the coldest part of her. She was clad in a flimsy silk nightdress, which fell to her knees and left her pale and skinny legs visible from there down. A shiver ran through her, but it didn't take the young woman long to adjust to the change in temperature. As she brushed her long crimson hair out of her eyes, which were a shocking green in colour, she looked around. The moon hung close to the water, casting an eerie light across Hillys. The view made Jenika feel inclined to climb on to the rock outside of the hangar, the one that gave her a slightly better view of the surrounding area. Jenika ignored the inclination, though, and headed out across towards the great tree nearby. She glanced down at the field armadillo outside of the lighthouse as she passed, and raised a brow at it's antics. It was always there, and didn't seem to move so much as an inch. Not that it really bothered anyone. Having something so rare freely choosing to live around them made them feel somewhat special. Well, it made Jenika feel special, never mind the others. Putting her arms out to her sides, she let out a yawn before proceeding to drop her arms again, brushing them across a rock as she passed it. It had been several hours before the last DomZ attack, and Jenika rightly assumed that the next one would come soon.

Jenika wasn't much for climbing, even when dressed in suitable clothing, but she loved looking out over Hillys at night. Gripping hold of the moss on top of one of the boulders lining the cliff, she hauled herself up on to the rock. She had her head and shoulders visible above it, and was struggling to get herself any further. Manoeuvring her leg up underneath herself, she lunged for the other side of the rock and pulled herself on to it. Hardly a graceful way of seating herself, but it worked. Getting down would be easier, although she was somewhat worried about the fact she was barefoot. Jenika always seemed to step on things either painful or disgusting when she had no shoes on. Swinging her legs around so that they hung off of the island that the converted lighthouse was on, Jenika let out a long sigh before proceeding to get her breath back. Getting herself up on to the rock had been somewhat exhausting. Her arms behind her, supporting her, she leaned back and smiled as she gazed out over the Hillys. No sooner had she caught her breath, there was a rather loud noise. It sounded like someone had tried to stifle an explosion that would have otherwise been massive and defining. Jenika knew what was coming before she had even looked up to see the great green portal that had opened in the sky. The second sign that something was dreadfully wrong was the meteors that were falling all around. They had yet to hit the island, but Jenika had her fears that they would. She half threw herself from the rock, not, as she had feared, landing on anything painful, and raced back towards the lighthouse. There was movement inside, that much was obvious, but no one was coming out. Leaping over the field armadillo, which had moved to a rather inconvenient position, she threw herself at the switch that activated the shield. Turning her vivid green eyes skyward, she impatiently watched as the shield covered the lighthouse and surrounding area.

"Nicely done, Jenika." Pey'j commented, appearing in the doorway of the hangar, through which his workshop was. He was always in there, and it seemed as if it wouldn't matter if the island and the workshop separated, so long as Pey'j was inside. Jenika smiled at the comment, and nodded her head slightly

"No problem." She murmured, turning her attention back to the scene beyond the shield. The Alpha Sections were there, forcing the DomZ back into retreat, as they always did. "Thank God they're here..." Jenika thought aloud, dreading to think what would become of Hillys if it weren't for the Alpha Sections. Behind her, Jade and Zaza had appeared, and they too were watching the battle fixedly. Sighing inwardly, Jenika turned "I'm going back to bed..." She said quietly, passing back into the house and climbing up into the room that she shared with the others.

"Good night!" Jade called. Jenika waved over her shoulder as she made her way up the slope leading to her room. She hated the war, and she hated everything about it. They were wasting electricity on the shield, usually twice a day, and there were very few ways of making the money back. Jenika went to the City and worked short hours with Nouri every other day, but she had no way of doing it any more. The hovercraft was broken, and that was that. Pey'j couldn't fix it, and Mammago was a garage, not a door-to-door service. No one felt particularly inclined to swim. Crawling up on to her end of the bed, Jenika rested her head on a pile of plushies that no one wanted any more. She lay quietly, shifting her weight every so often in an attempt to get comfortable. Her eyelids were somewhat heavily, and her eyes itched furiously. It was clear to her that she was desperate to sleep, but for some reason she couldn't bring herself to close her eyes. It was past midnight before she drifted into an uneasy sleep, plagued by dreams of the DomZ creeping into the lighthouse and killing Jade and Pey'j. Where would the war orphans be if that happened?

She was up before sunrise, knowing that by rights, she should have been tired. Her sleep, despite being so restless, had proved remarkably refreshing. She watched Jade stretching her arms above her head, in some exercise or another. She did it every morning, and Jenika always watched if she was awake. As always, she was wearing her favourite pair of trousers, with a matching overskirt and t-shirt, which left her stomach exposed. The boots that she wore were new, but she had been after them for ages. They had been a birthday present, and Jenika appreciated how much it had cost Pey'j and Jade. In their financial situation, it must have come as quite a blow. However, the boots were rather pretty. They were flat, so Jenika could run about and be as active as she liked, and they were made of velvet, or a similar black material. They reached her knees, and where decorated with gold embroidery at that point. Her trousers were a rich shade of crimson, much like her hair, as was the t-shirt, while the over-skirt was black with gold embroidery about the hem. So the outfit was a matching one, and Jenika wore it most days.

Fehn had joined Jade in her exercise on that occasion, but was having difficulty with keeping up. He glanced over at Jade every so often to check he was doing everything right. Jenika smiled somewhat, despite the radio which she could hear, warning of another DomZ attack. This one was apparently intended as a surprise, as the last one had come only 7 hours ago, which was half the time between most attacks. Jenika was pondering over this, when it came. The young woman didn't bother getting up, but turned her attention out to the nearby islands, as shields appeared over them. Jade shot past with Fehn on her back, and a moment later, the shield was up. Then it was gone. Jenika's eyes widened and she turned to Jade

"What are you doing?! Put the shield up!" She called, getting to her feet and beckoning to the sky. Jade glanced at her, and yelled in return

"The account is empty! They cut off the electricity!" At that moment, Jade looked up. A meteor, of mixed black and green, was spinning towards her. She leapt out of its way just as it hit the ground, and proceeded to do the same as the next few meteors fell. Jenika stood unmoving. She was safe enough where she stood, beside the cliff, as the meteors had yet to fall anywhere near her. Her eyes widened again as she saw the other orphans who lived in the lighthouse appear in the doorway, waving frantically at Jade. A meteor struck the ground just in front of them, and when the dust and smoke cleared, they were gone.

"Jade!" Jenika called, darting to her side and scanning around for the others "Where are they? What happened?!" She demanded, despite knowing well enough what had happened.

"Th--" Jade was cut off, as a group of DomZ sarcophagi emerged from the gaping hole in the ground. Contained inside each one were the other orphans, desperately trying to free themselves. Jenika stared at them for a while, but Jade was soon in her way, beating the sarcophagi rather violently with a flaming branch. Knowing that she was powerless to help, Jenika backed off somewhat, just watching. She frowned, not sure of what to do, as a sarcophagus crept up behind Jade, who was busy freeing Yoa from her captor. Glancing around, her eyes fell on a fairly large stone at her feet. Shrugging inwardly, she scooped up the stone and lobbed it at the back of the sarcophagus. It yowled and turned, undaunted by the stone that had hit it. The worst it had done was anger the sarcophagus.

"I... Jade!" She cried, ducking out of the way of the sarcophagus as it lunged for her. The second time it clawed at her, she rolled out of the way, all the while expecting to be hit. Acting instinctively as she straightened up, and not thinking to stop before it was too late, she kicked the sarcophagus and sent it flying forward a fair way. Somewhat surprised, and not sure if she had actually done it, Jenika raised a brow. She didn't have the time to ponder over it, as the sarcophagus was back at her a second later.

"Stay out of it's way!" Jade called, unable to go and help Jenika before she had destroyed the sarcophagi that were assailing her. So Jenika did so, ducking out of it's way. It was alarmingly fast, and she found herself struggling to keep up. She ducked, and stayed low, but the sarcophagus wasn't entirely stupid, and lashed out at her. She jumped just in time, but didn't have time to react after landing. The sarcophagus struck her, sending her sprawling over the rock planted somewhere near the centre of their island. She hit the ground hard, but her hand felt a branch beside her. She heard Jade call her name, but ignored it, not knowing how she could respond. She rolled on to her back and swung the stick with all her strength, fearing that she would miss. The branch made sharp contact with something, making Jenika jump. Honestly she had expected to hit nothing. Opening her eyes, she saw the sarcophagus as it fell beside her, and remained unmoving. Sitting up, she looked at the branch to discover, much to her surprise, that it had broken. Everything seemed to have calmed down, so Jenika got to her feet, dropping the stick and limping slightly over to her friends, who were cheering at both herself and Jade. With the time now, she noted that she felt incredibly sore, and that her face was stinging damnably where the sarcophagus had hit her. Her hands were full of splinters from the uneven branch. Everything fell silent, but she continued to stare at her hands, fighting back tears at how bruised and battered she felt. When she looked up, she saw with great surprise that Jade was gone. Pey'j appeared, clutching Jade's Dai-Jo stick. He gave a great cry, and leapt into the hole, apparently after Jade.


	2. Under the Stars

**Fox the Cave: **Thanks.I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen straight after Jade and Pey'j leave, but I have a pretty good idea of what will happen when Jade's at the Slaughterhouse, and after that. So hey, it's all good.

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"They're okay, right?" Zaza breathed after a long while of silence. No one answered at first, but eventually, Pablo glanced at him and nodded

"They'll be fine... it's Jade and Pey'j." He replied, sounding remarkably uncertain "They can look after themselves." Pablo nodded, mostly to reassure himself. More minutes passed slowly, and a loud whirring filled the air. Moments later, there were two ships perched on the island. A TV reporter and his crew emerged from one, and the Alpha Sections from another. The war orphans felt immensely relieved at their arrival, and watched as the Alpha Sections scoured the area for any signs of danger. It took them a fair while, but eventually they sent one down into the hole that Jade and Pey'j had disappeared into. A minute or so later, the two emerged. The TV reporter leaped into action, firing questions at the speed of light. Pey'j angrily yelled at them, and they left with an irritated comment.

"You okay, Jenika?" Jade questioned, looking concerned.

"I'm fine... Just... Give me an hour in the bathroom and I'll sort myself out." Jenika smiled slightly, putting on a brave face. Jade nodded, then looked at Pey'j

"Thanks, Pey'j. If it wasn't for you, I... I..." She trailed off, swaying uncertainly for a second, and then losing consciousness. There was a sudden flurry of activity, during which Jenika crept into the lighthouse and up to the bathroom. She leaned on the switch, but the door didn't open. They were still out of power. She cursed, sinking down in front of the door miserably, and proceeding to pick the splinters out of her hands.

It was sunset before a yell of "She's okay!" came from Zaza downstairs. By that time, Jenika had removed the worst of the splinters, but there were still a few, and her hands were bleeding and painful. She ached all over, and doubted she'd be able to get up without a considerable amount of difficulty. Zaza raced up the gentle slope, and beamed down at Jenika

"Jade's up! She says that she's okay, but she's worried about the power." He said rapidly, not pausing for breath. Jenika looked up at him, smiling weakly

"That's great."

"How are you? Have you been up here all this time?"

"Yeah, I can't get into the bathroom. I'll have to wait until the power's restored before I can clean up."

"Well, it'll probably be back soon. Jade will know what to do." Zaza smiled encouragingly "You should come down for a bit."

"Nah, I think I'll stay here." Jenika replied, thankful for the offer despite turning it down.

"Okay... If you're sure." Zaza said reluctantly, turning and heading back to the main room. Jenika leaned back against the door, allowing her head to bounce somewhat on the wooden surface. However, Zaza was right. It didn't take long for the power to be restored, and the second artificial light filled the Lighthouse shelter, she thumped the switch and straightened up as the door opened. Disappearing into the bathroom, she pressed the switch and the door shut behind her, locking from the outside. Finally alone, she allowed the tears that had been welling up in her eyes for what seemed like eternity, to roll down her cheeks. She really didn't feel the need to cry any more, but she knew that it would make her feel better in the long run. She grew tired after a short while, and sniffed massively, wiping the back of her hand across her eyes and nose. Stuffing the plug into the basin, she jerked the hot water on. Once the basin was full, steam rising in plumes and coating the mirror in condensation, she turned the water off. Plunging her hands into it, she winced at the heat, but left her hands in all the same. A few minutes later, she took them out and dried them softly on the towel beside the toilet. Her skin softened, she removed the last of the splinters. Luckily, none of the smaller ones had gone particularly deep, so she got them out with no problem. Her hands were soon bleeding slightly again, but she pressed them against the towel for a few seconds and they pretty much stopped. Wiping her sleeve across the mirror to clear it, she peered in at her face and recoiled. There was a gash in the side of her face, but luckily, it didn't seem likely to leave visible bruising. She bathed the wound with the somewhat bloodied towel, knowing fully well that someone would complain at her about it later.

After a pleasant bath, Jenika emerged from the bathroom with her damp hair falling over her flannel nightclothes. Jade was standing with a camera in hand, a mildly concerned smile on her face

"Feeling better?" She asked, adding "You certainly look better. It's stopped bleeding now." Jade beckoned at the cut on Jenika's face.

"Yeah, I... I feel fine. A bit bruised, but I'll get over it." Jenika smiled. A silence settled, and once it reached the point of being uncomfortable, Jenika nodded at the camera "Why did you dig that out? You haven't used it in ages."

"Oh!" Jade looked down at the camera, then back at Jenika "Yeah, Segundo got me a job. I take photos and send them to the Science Centre. They pay, and... we get money in the account and... electricity in the system. Speaking of which, could I get a photo of you? Homo Sapiens isn't on the list yet. No one would let me take a photo."

"But..." Jenika glanced down in the direction of her cheek, then back up at Jade, a self-conscious look on her face.

"What?" Jade questioned, apparently completely oblivious.

"It's hideous." Jenika stated miserably, pointing at her cut.

"Oh, don't worry! Stand to one side, or something. Please? We need the money..." Jade half-pleaded.

"Fine..." Jenika snapped, sounding irritated. In truth, she didn't mind. Perhaps she'd look extra-pretty, and everyone would comment on her good looks. She doubted it, but it never hurt to hope. Tilting her head to a slight angle, she glanced questioningly at Jade.

"That's great, hold it." She said, lifting the camera. She fiddled for a second, then there was a snap and a whirr "Great! Thanks." Jade said, grinning. Jenika smiled and nodded, heading into the laundry room. She tossed her wet towel in, and joined the other's downstairs by the fire, listening to the radio.

"Hey, Jenika. How're you doing?" Pey'j looked up from the radio as Jenika walked in, and everyone turned to look at her too.

"I'm fine." Jenika replied, smiling widely. She liked the attention she was getting, though would have perhaps preferred to receive it when she was in less pain. Sitting herself down on the step leading up, she glanced around at everyone. They were all looking back at the radio, having made a series of comments about how it was good that she was feeling better. "Where's Yoa?" Jenika questioned. No one answered at first, but there was an absent

"She's gone outside. She sleeps out there now." From Pablo.

"Why? Did you kick her out?"

"I don't know. She just started sleeping out there about two days ago. You haven't noticed?"

"No... I don't pay attention to you guys when I go to sleep."

"Well you always seem to get up and go outside in the middle of the night." Pablo pointed out, looking up at Jenika for a second. She shrugged

"Where does she sleep, exactly?"

"Down by the tree."

"Well that's why I don't see her. I never go down there at night."

"You did before. We all saw you come running up when the DomZ attacked." Pablo was apparently suspicious of something. This made Jenika somewhat angry

"I haven't seen her, okay? Deal with it." The radio was boring her, and Pablo was getting on her nerves. She got to her feet and, predictably, she stalked off outside, and down to the tree where Yoa allegedly slept. Indeed, she was there, curled up in the shadow of a boulder. The light shone on her eyes. She was awake, and staring unblinking at Jenika "Hey, Yoa." Jenika smiled, sitting down beside her.

"Jenika." Yoa said, something of a smile on her face.

"Don't worry, I know you're struggling to speak out language. You don't have to talk to me if you don't want." There was a silence, a pleasant one, in which Jenika looked to the sky, and Yoa continued to study her intently. Then, much to Jenika's surprise, Yoa spoke

"I can be speaking your language better than you all know." She said quietly, her eyes meeting Jenika's who was somewhat shocked "But do not tell them, yes? I am not liking talking to them. They treat me different."

"Oh... okay." Jenika said, nodding. She was rather taken aback, not used to people knowing more than they let on. But she couldn't really blame her. No one liked being treated differently. Another silence fell, more uncomfortable this time. "So... why do you sleep outside, now? Did they kick you out?"

"No, it is not that. They say they do not mind me being with them. I am just liking staying here. Inside is too... hard. Do you know how I mean?"

"Sorry, no... hard?"

"It is hard to breath properly. It is hot, and I feel I want to scream." Yoa said, rolling on to her back as she explained, and staring up at the sky with Jenika, who did the same, tucking her hands behind her head.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. It can get a bit stuffy in there from time to time. Especially when Pablo's in there. Obnoxious bastard." At that, Yoa looked questioningly at Jenika, who noticed her movement and looked back at her, grinning sheepishly "Don't worry. I just don't like him at the moment." She said. Yoa gave something of a nod, and turned back to look at the sky, as did Jenika. Eventually, she drifted off. Yoa glanced over at her and smiled

"Good night." She said. Jenika muttered something inaudible in reply, but was too close to sleep to give a proper response.


End file.
